Impact of Vegetable Oil Spills

Historically, vegetable oils have been considered relatively benign, non-toxic and therefore of limited concern to the environment. However, this generalisation has been demonstrated to be incorrect. Previous experience has shown that both chronic and acute pollution incidents can lead to deleterious effects. This awareness has led to the reclassification of many vegetable oils as category Y (hazardous) products under Annex II of the MARPOL Convention with associated limitations on their carriage. The primary environmental consequences of spills of vegetable oils are seen in relation to surface dwelling organisms where oil can lead to smothering and suffocation. image from : itopf.com